Sunday, November 20, 2011

NEW MOVIE REVIEW: Tower Heist



"If it had provided me with nothing else, "Tower Heist" would have afforded me the sight of a solid gold automobile being lowered from the penthouse of the Trump Tower with Matthew Broderick dangling from it. Sometimes you appreciate such simple human spectacles. To be sure, Trump Tower has been renamed "The Tower," and the man dangling from the car isn't the Donald, but this is an imperfect world."  ~ Roger Ebert


Look, the plot is ridiculous, but who cares? If the plot had been more clever, would this have been a better film? Sure. But this isn't that kind of movie, and nonetheless, it was still entertaining and funny.


First off, the whole penthouse lifestyle (as in rich---not as in naked) is fun to imagine for those of us who have never had, and will probably never have, the opportunity to go inside one of those high rise apartment buildings occupied by the NYC elite.  It sure would be fun to spend a weekend there. 


Next, the cast was enjoyable: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, Judd Hirsch, Michael Pena. I didn't care too much for Gabourey Sidibe and her Jamaican accent, but everyone else was pretty funny. For some reason Matthew Broderick as a middle-aged sad-sack particularly struck my funny bone. He just looked funny. Tea Leoni, was also likable, even though I'm usually not crazy about her. 


The movie moves along at a quick pace. There were couple of slow spots for me (oddly enough, during the actual heist), but overall it kept me engaged.


I hate it when critics write a review and most of it is actually a synopsis. LAME. So, you won't get that from me. You can look up the synopsis at IMDB or Wikipedia or something. Consequently, this review is short, but you get the point. Tower Heist is a glossy production---nonsensical, but amusing. And that's fine as long as you weren't expecting something more.



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